Men, women win; baseball, softball start; hockey...?
by: Mizzou Matt
COLUMBIA, MO- It was a wide world of sports for the University of Missouri over the weekend, with both men's and women's basketball seasons winding down on the road, and baseball and softball seasons just starting up.Men's basketball traveled down to College Station, TX to take on Texas A&M for the last time as members of the Big 12 conference. Missouri's Kim English led the way for the Tigers with 21 points in the 71-62 win. Marcus Denmon also had 14, Phil Pressey with 13, and Mike Dixon had 15 off the bench as the fourth Tiger in double-digits. Ricardo Ratliffe, who was on pace to set a new NCAA record for field goal percentage, went 2/5 last night for 4 points. The Tigers (25-2, 12-2) kick off Kansas week with a visit from the Wildcats (18-8, 7-7) on Tuesday the 21st, then travel to Lawrence for the final time to take on #5 Kansas on Saturday. The Tigers lost the first contest in Manhattan, 75-59.
Women's basketball, led by second-year coach Robin Pingeton, finally grabbed their first conference win with a 70-65 win over Kansas in Lawrence. The win is the first for the Tigers since closing out non-conference play in January. Christine Flores led Mizzou with 24 points in the win while both Sydney Crafton and Kyley Simmons both scored 13. The Lady Tigers improve to 11-14, 1-13 on the year.
Baseball kicked off it's season on Friday down in Auburn, AL to take on the Auburn University Tigers. They started off their season on a sour note with a 5-2 loss. Saturday's game was rained out and postponed to Sunday for a doubleheader, which Mizzou swept 4-3 (7) and 6-4. Mizzou now carries a 4-1 series lead against their future SEC conference rival. Mizzou is 2-1 on the year and will take on the San Francisco Dons for a three-game series on the 24th-26th.
Softball also started their season over the weekend in the Quality Inn Classic, starting with a doubleheader on Friday. The Tigers won 3-2 over Ball State and 4-0 over host school Troy (AL). On Saturday, the 5th-ranked Tigers were upset by Eastern Kentucky 6-5 in 10 innings, and rebounded on Sunday with a 9-3 win over East Tennessee State. Ashley Fleming had two home runs over the weekend as Ehren Earleywine's team is 3-1 to start the year.
Mizzou hockey...yes, hockey...are the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) champions! The Tigers defeated Iowa on Saturday in the semifinals with a 5-3 win, then defeated Illinois State in the finals 4-1 to grab the championship. The club team, run through the Rec, finishes off their season with a stout 15-2 record.Follow @MizzouHoops; @MissouriWBB; @MUTigerBaseball; @MizzouSoftball; and @mizzouhockey on Twitter for updates.
You can find the official Facebook page, Mizzou Nation and also on Twitter @One_Mizzou and the author, @RealMizzouMatt.
